ACLU Seeks End To Censorship of Religious Material By Virginia Jail

Ban of Biblical Passages and Other Material Unconstitutional

STAFFORD, Va., July 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Civil Liberties
Union and the ACLU of Virginia today demanded that officials at the
Rappahannock Regional Jail immediately end their illegal practice of censoring
religious material sent to detainees.

In a letter sent today to the jail's superintendent, Joseph Riggs, Jr., the
ACLU asks for jail officials to guarantee in writing that the jail will no
longer censor biblical passages from letters written to detainees and to
revise the jail's written inmate mail policy to state that letters will not be
censored simply because they contain religious material.

"It is nothing short of stunning that a jail would think it okay to censor the
Bible and other religious material for no reason other than its religious
nature," said David Shapiro, staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison
Project. "Such censorship violates both the rights of detainees to practice
religion freely and the free speech rights of those wanting to communicate
with detainees."

The letter was prompted by a complaint brought to the ACLU by Anna Williams, a
devout Christian whose son was detained at Rappahannock beginning in June of
2008 until his transfer earlier this year. Williams wanted to send her son
religious material, including passages from the Bible, to support him
spiritually during his confinement. But rather than deliver Williams' letters
to her son in full, jail officials removed any and all religious material,
destroying the religious messages Williams sought to convey to her son. For
example, after jail officials excised biblical passages, a three-page letter
sent by Williams to her son was reduced to nothing more than the salutation,
the first paragraph of the letter and the closing, "Love, Mom."

Jail officials banned additional material from other letters Williams
attempted to send her son, including passages from the Book of Proverbs, the
Book of James, the Book of Matthew and an article that contained Christian
perspectives on confronting isolation while in jail. Jail officials have
variously cited prohibitions on "Internet pages" and "religious material sent
from home" as reasons for the censorship.

"It is essential that jail officials abide by the law and the requirements of
the U.S. Constitution," said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU
Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "People do not lose their right to
religious worship simply because they are incarcerated."

The ACLU's letter also asks jail officials to revise the jail's inmate mail
policy to state that letters will not be censored merely because they contain
material printed from the Internet or copied from the Internet and inserted
into a letter using a word processor's "cut and paste" feature.

"Arbitrarily banning religious material is in direct odds with our nation's
constitutional values," said Rebecca Glenberg, Legal Director for the ACLU of
Virginia. "Americans are free to practice the religion of their choice, or no
religion at all, without interference from any government official."

Other signatories to the ACLU's letter are the Virginia Interfaith Center for
Public Policy, the Rutherford Institute, Prison Fellowship, the Friends
Committee on National Legislation and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

A copy of the ACLU's letter is available online at:
www.aclu.org/prison/restrict/40257res20090709.html

Additional information about the ACLU National Prison Project is available
online at: www.aclu.org/prison

Additional information about the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and
Belief at: www.aclu.org/religion

Additional information about the ACLU of Virginia is available online at:
www.acluva.org

SOURCE American Civil Liberties Union

Will Matthews of American Civil Liberties Union, +1-212-549-2582 or 2666;
media@aclu.org